DESIGNING TOEFL TRAINING SYLLABUSES FOR NON-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS OF UNIPDU JOMBANG (A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS)
DESIGNING TOEFL TRAINING SYLLABUSES
FOR NON-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS
OF UNIPDU JOMBANG
(A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS)
Achmad Fanani1
Unipdu – Jombang1
akufanani@gmail.com1
ABSTRAK
TOEFL test adalah tes Bahasa Inggris berstandard internasional yang mengukur kemampuan
bahasa Inggris akademik para petutur bahasa Inggris non-native. Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk
mendesain silabus untuk pelatihan TOEFL yang memenuhi kebutuhan mahasiswa dari jurusan non
bahasa Inggris UNIPDU Jombang yang berkemampuan bahasa Inggris kurang. Secara umum isi
dari silabus berdasar analisis kebutuhan siswa adalah sebagai berikut: 1. Listening comprehension:
PART A: meaning questions, suggestion, prediction, implication, inferences, PART B: topics of
conversations, details of conversations, PART C: topics of talks/lectures, details of talks/lectures;
2. Structure and Written Expression: a. Incomplete sentences: conjunctions, comparisons, subject
missing, adjective clauses, b. Underlined words: count/non-count nouns, banana rule, adjectives,
prepositions, noun-pronoun agreement, singular/plural nouns; 3. Reading Comprehension and
Vocabulary: References, passage organization, exception, inferences, topics, main ideas.
Kata kunci: EPT, students’ needs, syllabuses
Abstract
The TOEFL test is an internationally accepted standard of English that measures the academic
English proficiency of a non-native speaker of English. This research is aimed at designing
TOEFL training syllabuses and workbooks that meet the needs of non-English department
students of UNIPDU Jombang with low level of English proficiency. In general, the contents of the
syllabuses based on the students’ needs analysis are as follows: 1. Listening comprehension:
PART A: meaning questions, suggestion, prediction, implication, inferences, PART B: topics of
conversations, details of conversations, PART C: topics of talks/lectures, details of talks/lectures;
2. Structure and Written Expression: a. Incomplete sentences: conjunctions, comparisons, subject
missing, adjective clauses, b. Underlined words: count/non-count nouns, banana rule, adjectives,
prepositions, noun-pronoun agreement, singular/plural nouns; 3. Reading Comprehension and
Vocabulary: References, passage organization, exception, inferences, topics, main ideas.
Keywords: EPT, students’ needs, syllabuses
A. INTRODUCTION
The TOEFL test is an internationally accepted standard of English that measures the
academic English proficiency of a non-native speaker of English. TOEFL (TEST OF ENGLISH
AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE) measures the ability of non-native speakers of English to use and
understand English as it is spoken, written and heard in college and university settings.
(www.ets.org/toefl).
The first and most important factor to be considered when constructing teaching materials
is the learners. If the points of the materials are relevance, interest, motivation, and meeting
specific students’ needs, then clearly syllabus developers must ensure they know their learners
well. Any consideration of syllabus or materials design must begin with a needs analysis.
This research is aimed at designing TOEFL training syllabuses that meet the needs of
non-English department students at UNIPDU with low level of English proficiency. An important
advantage of specifying the target readers is contextualization. A key criticism of commercial
materials, particularly those produced for the world-wide market is that they are necessarily
generic and not aimed at any specific group of learners or any particular cultural or educational
context. Thus by specifying the target readers, the problem of lack of ‘fit’ of the syllabus will be
able to overcome.
B. FINDINGS
1. The results of question items analysis
a. Listening Comprehension
After conducting an analysis on 300 listening questions in Part A. Listening Section
(Short Conversations), it is found out that nine problems are present in this part. Out of them, five
are regarded as commonly found problems: meaning question, implication, inference, suggestion,
and prediction.
In Part B Listening Section (Longer Conversation), there are 81 questions analyzed.
Among the questions, it is identified that 6 kinds of problems exist. However, there are only two
problems that can be said as commonly found in this part.
In part C Listening Section, there are 119 questions analyzed. Among the questions, 5
kinds of problems are identified, and only two problems are categorized as commonly found in
this part: details and topic.
b. Structure and Written Expressions
1) Incomplete Sentences
Questions number 1 to 15 in Structure and Written expressions section are called
‘incomplete sentences’. Here the test takers are required to complete a sentence with one of four
possible answers provided. In this type of question, out of 150 questions analyzed, 35 problems
are identified and nine problems can be categorized as commonly found problems: Adjective
clauses, conjunctions, verbs, subject missing, S+V missing, comparisons, adverbs, participial
phrases, and appositives.
2) Underlined Words
Questions number 16 to 40 are underlined words. The test takers are to choose the
incorrect words/phrase among four underlined words/phrases. There are 250 questions analyzed.
Out of them 37 problems are identified. There are 16 problems can be said as commonly found
problems. They are adjectives, prepositions, noun forms, singular/plural nouns, articles, adjective
clauses, passive voice, adverbs, subject-verb agreement, conjunctions, noun-pronoun agreement,
count/non count nouns, banana rule, word order, tenses and phrasal verbs. The problems can be
grouped into seven groups: sentence patterns, phrasal construction, connectors, verb tenses,
preposition, word classes, and agreement.
c. Reading Comprehension
After analyzing 500 reading questions, it is found out that 12 problems exist. Out of
them, eight are regarded as commonly found are obtained.
problems: vocabulary, details, reference, topic, exception, inference, passage
organization, and main idea.
2. The students’ weakness points
After conducting the test to the respondents based on the common problems found in
EPT, the following results
a. Listening Comprehension
1) Listening: Part A
In part A, it is found out that the respondents had difficulty on all kinds of problems. The
following are the students’ weakness points from the most problematic to the least one: Inference,
Meaning, Question, Suggestion, Prediction, Implication.
2) Listening: Part B
In part B Listening Section, as discussed earlier, there are two common types of
problems: topics and details. Out of 44 respondents, 39 students had trouble figuring out the
conversational topics. The following are the students’ weakness points from the most problematic
to the least one: Topics, Details.
3) Listening: Part C
In Part C, the most difficult problem for the respondents is details of the talks/lectures
where only 6 students (13.64 %) had no problem on it. The following are the students’ weakness
points from the most problematic to the least one: Details, Topics.
b. Structure and Written Expression
1) Incomplete Sentences
The most problematic question for the respondents is that on participial phrases. There
were only 2 students (4,55 %) who could answer the questions well. The following are the
students’ weakness points from the most problematic to the least one: Participial Phrases,
Comparisons, Subject Missing, Conjunctions, Adjective Clauses, S+V Missing, Appositives,
Adverbs, Verb Missing.
2) Underlined words
Out of 44 respondents, only 1 student (2.27 %) could answer the questions. The least
troublesome problem is subject-verb agreement. Here 25 students (56.82 %) could answer the
questions well. The following are the students’ weakness points from the most problematic to the
least one: Count/Non Count Nouns, Noun-Pronoun Agreement, Adjectives, Prepositions, Banana
Rule, Tenses, Singular/Plural Noun, Articles, Phrasal Verbs, Word Order, Conjunctions,
Adverbs, Noun Forms, Adjective Clauses, Passive Voice, Subject-Verb Agreement.
c. Reading Comprehension
Locating references is the most difficult problem for the respondents. The least difficult
problem is that on details of the passage. The following are the students’ weakness points from
the most problematic to the least one: References, Exceptions, Inferences, Referring to the
Passage, Topics, Main Ideas, Vocabularies.
C. THE IMPLICATION ON THE SYLLABUSES MAKING
1. The syllabuses
Concerning that this study would like to build teaching materials which help students get
better scores on EPT, the following course rationale is constructed.
This course is designed for the students who would like to take TOEFL test or any tests like
EPT. This course seeks to enable the students get TOEFL score of 475 up. It teaches the
problems (in Listening, Structure, and Reading) which are commonly found in EPT. This
course is designed to give the students the materials which are suitable to their strengths. It
provides them with many practices resemble to the actual questions in EPT, in order that they
will be familiar with the question formats. It also seeks to develop the students’ skills in
independent learning outside the classroom.
The content of the course will depend on the learners’ proficiency levels (Richards, 2003:
148). The information gathered during needs analysis will contribute to the planning of course
contents..
Finally, considering the common problems found, the weakness points of the students on
EPT, and the number of meetings allocated for each section/parts, the following problems will be
included in the teaching process (the complementing materials will include the practices on other
commonly found problems that can be self-studied by the students).
a. The suggested syllabuses for 20-hour training
Considering the number of meetings allocated, the number of common problems found
and the students’ weakness points, all problems can be accommodated in the teaching process
with the following topical breakdowns.
Section 1. Listening Comprehension (5 meetings)
1. Part A: 3 meetings
Meeting 1: meaning questions
Meeting 2: suggestion, prediction
Meeting 3: implication, inference
2. Part B: – 1 meeting
Meeting 4: topics of conversations, details of conversations
3. Part C: – 1 meeting
Meeting 5: topics of talks/lectures, details of talks/lectures
Section 2. Structure and Written Expression (5 meetings)
1. Incomplete sentences: – 2 meetings
Meeting 6: conjunctions, comparisons,
Meeting 7: subject missing, adjective clauses
2. Underlined words: – 3 meetings
Meeting 8: count/non-count nouns, banana rule
Meeting 9: adjectives, prepositions
Meeting 10: noun-pronoun agreement, singular/plural noun
Section 3. Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary
1. Common problems in TOEFL Reading: – 3 meetings
Meeting 11: reference, passage organization
Meeting 12: exception, inferences
Meeting 13: topics, main ideas
b. The suggested syllabus for 30-hour training
In general there is no significant difference between the syllabus for 20-hour training and
that for 30-hour. The main difference is that on the composition of problems in Structure and
Written expressions and Reading Comprehension where there are more problems accommodated.
The process of selecting the contents of the syllabus is still the same: Considering the number of
common problems found, the students’ weakness points, and the number of meetings allocated
for each section.
The syllabus for the 30-hour training is thus as follows:
Section 1. Listening Comprehension (7 meetings)
1) Part A: – 4 meetings
Meeting 1: meaning questions
Meeting 2: suggestion
Meeting 3: prediction
Meeting 4: inference, implication
2) Part B: – 2 meetings
Meeting 5: topics of conversations
Meeting 6: details of conversations
3) Part C: – 1 meeting
Meeting 7: topics and details of conversations
Section 2. Structure and Written Expression (7 meetings)
1) Incomplete sentences: – 3 meetings
Meeting 8: conjunctions, comparisons
Meeting 9: subject missing, S+V missing
Meeting 10: adjective clauses, participial phrases
2) Underlined words: – 4 meetings
Meeting 11: articles, banana rule
Meeting 12: adjectives, prepositions
Meeting 13: noun-pronoun agreement, tenses
Meeting 14: singular/plural nouns, count/non count nouns
Section 3. Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary (5 meetings)
Meeting 15: vocabulary
Meeting 16: reference, passage organization
Meeting 17: details, exception
Meeting 18: inference
Meeting 19: topics, main ideas
D. CONCLUSION
An important advantage of specifying the target readers is contextualization. A key
criticism of commercial materials, particularly those produced for the world-wide market is that
they are necessarily generic and not aimed at any specific group of learners or any particular
cultural or educational context. Thus by specifying the target readers, the problem of lack of ‘fit’
of the course book will be able to overcome.
This research is aimed at designing TOEFL training syllabuses that meet the needs of
non-English department students of UNIPDU Jombang with low level of English proficiency.
The main problem faced by the teachers in giving training on TOEFL is the time constraint. They
usually have very limited time to teach while at the same time they have many topics to deliver.
Therefore they often have difficulty deciding which topics that should be given and which ones
are not. The problem is even worse when the students have low proficiency of English.
In relation with the nature of TOEFL questions, it can be concluded that the questions are
aimed at assessing the readiness of the students in studying in college or university. The listening
and reading sections concern with three academic skills: taking notes, paraphrasing, and
summarizing. The grammar section tests the knowledge of the students in building good English
sentences.
REFERENCES
_______. 1998. TOEFL Practice Test workbook. ETS (Educational Testing Service), Princeton.
_______. 2002. TOEFL: Test Preparation Kit Workbook. ETS (Educational Testing Service).
Princeton.
Angeles Linde Lopez. 2008. “To What Extent Does Grammar Knowledge Account for
Competence in FL Reading Comprehension in University Students?” RESLA 21 181200.
Barry, K. and L. King, (2nd Edit.) (1997) Beginning Teaching And Beyond Australia: Social
Science Press.
Johns, A. 1991. English for specific purposes: Its history and contribution. In Celce-Murcia, M.
(Ed). Teaching English as a second or foreign language. MA: Heinle & Heinle. Boston.
Kellough, R. and N. Kellough (1999) A Guide to Methods and Resources. Prentice Hall. Ohio.
Long, M., 1996. Task Based Language Learning, University of Hawaii ESL department, spring
term. Hawaii.
Richards, J. C. and T. S. Rodgers. 1986. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: a
Description and Analysis, Cambridge Teaching Library. Cambridge.
Ross N. Kenneth. 1994. Sample Design for Educational Survey Research. UNESCO International
Institute for Educational Planning. New York.
Sharpe, J. Pamela. 2000. Barron’s How To Prepare for The TOEFL. 9th edition. BinaRupa
Aksara. Jakarta.
Sharpe, J. Pamela. 2007. Barron’s How To Prepare for The TOEFL iBT. 12th edition. BinaRupa
Aksara. Jakarta.
FOR NON-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS
OF UNIPDU JOMBANG
(A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS)
Achmad Fanani1
Unipdu – Jombang1
akufanani@gmail.com1
ABSTRAK
TOEFL test adalah tes Bahasa Inggris berstandard internasional yang mengukur kemampuan
bahasa Inggris akademik para petutur bahasa Inggris non-native. Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk
mendesain silabus untuk pelatihan TOEFL yang memenuhi kebutuhan mahasiswa dari jurusan non
bahasa Inggris UNIPDU Jombang yang berkemampuan bahasa Inggris kurang. Secara umum isi
dari silabus berdasar analisis kebutuhan siswa adalah sebagai berikut: 1. Listening comprehension:
PART A: meaning questions, suggestion, prediction, implication, inferences, PART B: topics of
conversations, details of conversations, PART C: topics of talks/lectures, details of talks/lectures;
2. Structure and Written Expression: a. Incomplete sentences: conjunctions, comparisons, subject
missing, adjective clauses, b. Underlined words: count/non-count nouns, banana rule, adjectives,
prepositions, noun-pronoun agreement, singular/plural nouns; 3. Reading Comprehension and
Vocabulary: References, passage organization, exception, inferences, topics, main ideas.
Kata kunci: EPT, students’ needs, syllabuses
Abstract
The TOEFL test is an internationally accepted standard of English that measures the academic
English proficiency of a non-native speaker of English. This research is aimed at designing
TOEFL training syllabuses and workbooks that meet the needs of non-English department
students of UNIPDU Jombang with low level of English proficiency. In general, the contents of the
syllabuses based on the students’ needs analysis are as follows: 1. Listening comprehension:
PART A: meaning questions, suggestion, prediction, implication, inferences, PART B: topics of
conversations, details of conversations, PART C: topics of talks/lectures, details of talks/lectures;
2. Structure and Written Expression: a. Incomplete sentences: conjunctions, comparisons, subject
missing, adjective clauses, b. Underlined words: count/non-count nouns, banana rule, adjectives,
prepositions, noun-pronoun agreement, singular/plural nouns; 3. Reading Comprehension and
Vocabulary: References, passage organization, exception, inferences, topics, main ideas.
Keywords: EPT, students’ needs, syllabuses
A. INTRODUCTION
The TOEFL test is an internationally accepted standard of English that measures the
academic English proficiency of a non-native speaker of English. TOEFL (TEST OF ENGLISH
AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE) measures the ability of non-native speakers of English to use and
understand English as it is spoken, written and heard in college and university settings.
(www.ets.org/toefl).
The first and most important factor to be considered when constructing teaching materials
is the learners. If the points of the materials are relevance, interest, motivation, and meeting
specific students’ needs, then clearly syllabus developers must ensure they know their learners
well. Any consideration of syllabus or materials design must begin with a needs analysis.
This research is aimed at designing TOEFL training syllabuses that meet the needs of
non-English department students at UNIPDU with low level of English proficiency. An important
advantage of specifying the target readers is contextualization. A key criticism of commercial
materials, particularly those produced for the world-wide market is that they are necessarily
generic and not aimed at any specific group of learners or any particular cultural or educational
context. Thus by specifying the target readers, the problem of lack of ‘fit’ of the syllabus will be
able to overcome.
B. FINDINGS
1. The results of question items analysis
a. Listening Comprehension
After conducting an analysis on 300 listening questions in Part A. Listening Section
(Short Conversations), it is found out that nine problems are present in this part. Out of them, five
are regarded as commonly found problems: meaning question, implication, inference, suggestion,
and prediction.
In Part B Listening Section (Longer Conversation), there are 81 questions analyzed.
Among the questions, it is identified that 6 kinds of problems exist. However, there are only two
problems that can be said as commonly found in this part.
In part C Listening Section, there are 119 questions analyzed. Among the questions, 5
kinds of problems are identified, and only two problems are categorized as commonly found in
this part: details and topic.
b. Structure and Written Expressions
1) Incomplete Sentences
Questions number 1 to 15 in Structure and Written expressions section are called
‘incomplete sentences’. Here the test takers are required to complete a sentence with one of four
possible answers provided. In this type of question, out of 150 questions analyzed, 35 problems
are identified and nine problems can be categorized as commonly found problems: Adjective
clauses, conjunctions, verbs, subject missing, S+V missing, comparisons, adverbs, participial
phrases, and appositives.
2) Underlined Words
Questions number 16 to 40 are underlined words. The test takers are to choose the
incorrect words/phrase among four underlined words/phrases. There are 250 questions analyzed.
Out of them 37 problems are identified. There are 16 problems can be said as commonly found
problems. They are adjectives, prepositions, noun forms, singular/plural nouns, articles, adjective
clauses, passive voice, adverbs, subject-verb agreement, conjunctions, noun-pronoun agreement,
count/non count nouns, banana rule, word order, tenses and phrasal verbs. The problems can be
grouped into seven groups: sentence patterns, phrasal construction, connectors, verb tenses,
preposition, word classes, and agreement.
c. Reading Comprehension
After analyzing 500 reading questions, it is found out that 12 problems exist. Out of
them, eight are regarded as commonly found are obtained.
problems: vocabulary, details, reference, topic, exception, inference, passage
organization, and main idea.
2. The students’ weakness points
After conducting the test to the respondents based on the common problems found in
EPT, the following results
a. Listening Comprehension
1) Listening: Part A
In part A, it is found out that the respondents had difficulty on all kinds of problems. The
following are the students’ weakness points from the most problematic to the least one: Inference,
Meaning, Question, Suggestion, Prediction, Implication.
2) Listening: Part B
In part B Listening Section, as discussed earlier, there are two common types of
problems: topics and details. Out of 44 respondents, 39 students had trouble figuring out the
conversational topics. The following are the students’ weakness points from the most problematic
to the least one: Topics, Details.
3) Listening: Part C
In Part C, the most difficult problem for the respondents is details of the talks/lectures
where only 6 students (13.64 %) had no problem on it. The following are the students’ weakness
points from the most problematic to the least one: Details, Topics.
b. Structure and Written Expression
1) Incomplete Sentences
The most problematic question for the respondents is that on participial phrases. There
were only 2 students (4,55 %) who could answer the questions well. The following are the
students’ weakness points from the most problematic to the least one: Participial Phrases,
Comparisons, Subject Missing, Conjunctions, Adjective Clauses, S+V Missing, Appositives,
Adverbs, Verb Missing.
2) Underlined words
Out of 44 respondents, only 1 student (2.27 %) could answer the questions. The least
troublesome problem is subject-verb agreement. Here 25 students (56.82 %) could answer the
questions well. The following are the students’ weakness points from the most problematic to the
least one: Count/Non Count Nouns, Noun-Pronoun Agreement, Adjectives, Prepositions, Banana
Rule, Tenses, Singular/Plural Noun, Articles, Phrasal Verbs, Word Order, Conjunctions,
Adverbs, Noun Forms, Adjective Clauses, Passive Voice, Subject-Verb Agreement.
c. Reading Comprehension
Locating references is the most difficult problem for the respondents. The least difficult
problem is that on details of the passage. The following are the students’ weakness points from
the most problematic to the least one: References, Exceptions, Inferences, Referring to the
Passage, Topics, Main Ideas, Vocabularies.
C. THE IMPLICATION ON THE SYLLABUSES MAKING
1. The syllabuses
Concerning that this study would like to build teaching materials which help students get
better scores on EPT, the following course rationale is constructed.
This course is designed for the students who would like to take TOEFL test or any tests like
EPT. This course seeks to enable the students get TOEFL score of 475 up. It teaches the
problems (in Listening, Structure, and Reading) which are commonly found in EPT. This
course is designed to give the students the materials which are suitable to their strengths. It
provides them with many practices resemble to the actual questions in EPT, in order that they
will be familiar with the question formats. It also seeks to develop the students’ skills in
independent learning outside the classroom.
The content of the course will depend on the learners’ proficiency levels (Richards, 2003:
148). The information gathered during needs analysis will contribute to the planning of course
contents..
Finally, considering the common problems found, the weakness points of the students on
EPT, and the number of meetings allocated for each section/parts, the following problems will be
included in the teaching process (the complementing materials will include the practices on other
commonly found problems that can be self-studied by the students).
a. The suggested syllabuses for 20-hour training
Considering the number of meetings allocated, the number of common problems found
and the students’ weakness points, all problems can be accommodated in the teaching process
with the following topical breakdowns.
Section 1. Listening Comprehension (5 meetings)
1. Part A: 3 meetings
Meeting 1: meaning questions
Meeting 2: suggestion, prediction
Meeting 3: implication, inference
2. Part B: – 1 meeting
Meeting 4: topics of conversations, details of conversations
3. Part C: – 1 meeting
Meeting 5: topics of talks/lectures, details of talks/lectures
Section 2. Structure and Written Expression (5 meetings)
1. Incomplete sentences: – 2 meetings
Meeting 6: conjunctions, comparisons,
Meeting 7: subject missing, adjective clauses
2. Underlined words: – 3 meetings
Meeting 8: count/non-count nouns, banana rule
Meeting 9: adjectives, prepositions
Meeting 10: noun-pronoun agreement, singular/plural noun
Section 3. Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary
1. Common problems in TOEFL Reading: – 3 meetings
Meeting 11: reference, passage organization
Meeting 12: exception, inferences
Meeting 13: topics, main ideas
b. The suggested syllabus for 30-hour training
In general there is no significant difference between the syllabus for 20-hour training and
that for 30-hour. The main difference is that on the composition of problems in Structure and
Written expressions and Reading Comprehension where there are more problems accommodated.
The process of selecting the contents of the syllabus is still the same: Considering the number of
common problems found, the students’ weakness points, and the number of meetings allocated
for each section.
The syllabus for the 30-hour training is thus as follows:
Section 1. Listening Comprehension (7 meetings)
1) Part A: – 4 meetings
Meeting 1: meaning questions
Meeting 2: suggestion
Meeting 3: prediction
Meeting 4: inference, implication
2) Part B: – 2 meetings
Meeting 5: topics of conversations
Meeting 6: details of conversations
3) Part C: – 1 meeting
Meeting 7: topics and details of conversations
Section 2. Structure and Written Expression (7 meetings)
1) Incomplete sentences: – 3 meetings
Meeting 8: conjunctions, comparisons
Meeting 9: subject missing, S+V missing
Meeting 10: adjective clauses, participial phrases
2) Underlined words: – 4 meetings
Meeting 11: articles, banana rule
Meeting 12: adjectives, prepositions
Meeting 13: noun-pronoun agreement, tenses
Meeting 14: singular/plural nouns, count/non count nouns
Section 3. Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary (5 meetings)
Meeting 15: vocabulary
Meeting 16: reference, passage organization
Meeting 17: details, exception
Meeting 18: inference
Meeting 19: topics, main ideas
D. CONCLUSION
An important advantage of specifying the target readers is contextualization. A key
criticism of commercial materials, particularly those produced for the world-wide market is that
they are necessarily generic and not aimed at any specific group of learners or any particular
cultural or educational context. Thus by specifying the target readers, the problem of lack of ‘fit’
of the course book will be able to overcome.
This research is aimed at designing TOEFL training syllabuses that meet the needs of
non-English department students of UNIPDU Jombang with low level of English proficiency.
The main problem faced by the teachers in giving training on TOEFL is the time constraint. They
usually have very limited time to teach while at the same time they have many topics to deliver.
Therefore they often have difficulty deciding which topics that should be given and which ones
are not. The problem is even worse when the students have low proficiency of English.
In relation with the nature of TOEFL questions, it can be concluded that the questions are
aimed at assessing the readiness of the students in studying in college or university. The listening
and reading sections concern with three academic skills: taking notes, paraphrasing, and
summarizing. The grammar section tests the knowledge of the students in building good English
sentences.
REFERENCES
_______. 1998. TOEFL Practice Test workbook. ETS (Educational Testing Service), Princeton.
_______. 2002. TOEFL: Test Preparation Kit Workbook. ETS (Educational Testing Service).
Princeton.
Angeles Linde Lopez. 2008. “To What Extent Does Grammar Knowledge Account for
Competence in FL Reading Comprehension in University Students?” RESLA 21 181200.
Barry, K. and L. King, (2nd Edit.) (1997) Beginning Teaching And Beyond Australia: Social
Science Press.
Johns, A. 1991. English for specific purposes: Its history and contribution. In Celce-Murcia, M.
(Ed). Teaching English as a second or foreign language. MA: Heinle & Heinle. Boston.
Kellough, R. and N. Kellough (1999) A Guide to Methods and Resources. Prentice Hall. Ohio.
Long, M., 1996. Task Based Language Learning, University of Hawaii ESL department, spring
term. Hawaii.
Richards, J. C. and T. S. Rodgers. 1986. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: a
Description and Analysis, Cambridge Teaching Library. Cambridge.
Ross N. Kenneth. 1994. Sample Design for Educational Survey Research. UNESCO International
Institute for Educational Planning. New York.
Sharpe, J. Pamela. 2000. Barron’s How To Prepare for The TOEFL. 9th edition. BinaRupa
Aksara. Jakarta.
Sharpe, J. Pamela. 2007. Barron’s How To Prepare for The TOEFL iBT. 12th edition. BinaRupa
Aksara. Jakarta.